


When I Was Born an Orange

by Ysabetwordsmith



Series: Polychrome Heroics [5]
Category: Polychrome Heroics
Genre: Dominant Sense, Food, Foster Care, Gen, Neurodiversity, Restaurants, Scent-Dominant, Self-Acceptance, Sensory Modes, Social Workers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26736070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysabetwordsmith/pseuds/Ysabetwordsmith
Summary: When a new guy comes to Blues Moon, Shiv finds a use for Daevin's unusual talents.
Series: Polychrome Heroics [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/176663
Kudos: 5
Collections: August Intimacy - September Stragglers 2020





	When I Was Born an Orange

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [an audience poll](https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/12652573.html), here is the free epic for the September 1, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl reaching its $200 goal. This poem is spillover from the August 4, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from Dreamwidth users Fuzzyred, Technoshaman, Bairnsidhe, and Ari_the_dodecahedron. It also fills the "Hopes / Dreams" square in [my 8-1-20 card](https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/12611270.html) for the Five Moments of Intimacy Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the [Shiv](http://penultimateproductions.weebly.com/shiv.html) thread of the [Polychrome Heroics](http://penultimateproductions.weebly.com/polychrome-heroics.html) series.

**[Thursday, April 30, 2015]**

Shiv was cleaning tables out front  
when he heard the argument start.

Well, not an angry-and-yelling argument,   
more of a desperate-and-pleading one.

Shiv glanced up and put a table  
between himself and the conversation,  
just in case it heated up too much.

There was a chunky white woman  
wheedling with Lieutenant Brown,  
and a tall boy who looked halfway  
between black and Hispanic.

The woman was going on about   
how the school said Daevin was   
stupid and wanted to push him into   
vocational training, even though he  
was set to graduate from high school  
and wanted college or a real job.

Lieutenant Brown didn't seem  
too enthusiastic about taking  
the problem into his own hands.

Something about how the kid  
went around sniffing things,  
and yeah, he was dragging  
his fingers over the tables --  
wet and dry -- and smelling them.

Maybe, smelling the lemon stuff  
that Shiv used to wipe them down.

Sure enough, the boy followed   
the path, coming up behind Shiv.

"Hi, I'm Shiv." He held out   
a hand. "What's your name?"

"Daevin," the boy replied.  
He looked a few years   
younger than Shiv, and   
shy, for all he was bigger.

"You like the lemon smell?"  
Shiv said. "It's like sunshine."

Daevin smiled. "I like lemons,  
oranges, limes -- anything  
with a nice bright smell."

"Yeah? What do you think  
of the food here?" Shiv said,  
because every time someone   
opened the door to the kitchen,  
the kid perked right up.

"It smells good," Daevin said,  
then grimaced. "But the beans   
need some more cinnamon."

Shiv's eyebrows went up.  
Not many people even knew  
that the beans had cinnamon.   
You couldn't taste it in the done dish,  
it just brought up the sweet flavor.

"You wanna tell Cook that?" he said.

"No." Daevin dropped his head.  
"People don't like when I speak up."

"Yeah, they never did with me either,"  
Shiv said. "Ain't shut me up yet."  
Then he thought of something.  
"I got an idea. Wait right here."

He trotted into the kitchen,  
picked up a few things,   
and then came back.

"Wanna play a game?"  
Shiv said, grinning.  
"Tell me what these are."

Daevin named every one  
of the spices, including  
the fancy pink peppercorns.

He jerked away from the milk,  
though. "That's spoiled!"

"Yeah, Cook put it out on  
the counter so he could make  
clabber bread," Shiv said.  
"Most people can't tell it's  
gone bad so early, though."

Daevin scowled in _exactly_  
the same way as Halley and  
Edison did, that Shiv had come  
to call "vending machine face."

"I don't like it when people  
ask me to tell them whether  
the milk's any good, and then  
snap at me for sniffing things,"  
Daevin grumbled. "How'm I  
supposed to know if I don't   
_check_ things all the time?"

"People are stupid," Shiv said.  
"Me, they kept saying I shouldn't  
touch stuff, but you know what?"  
He pulled out his play-putty and  
set the metal dancing in mid-air.  
"They missed this, yeah."

"Wow," Daevin said.  
"That's amazing!"

"It takes practice,"  
Shiv said. "So don't  
let anyone tell you not  
to use your nose. It'd  
be useful in a restaurant."

"I'd like that," Daevin said.  
"I wanted to learn cooking, but  
my social worker said no."

"The fuck _they_ know?"  
Shiv said. "They don't  
run a damn restaurant."

"Yeah, but they want   
me to fit in, and I suck   
at that," Daevin said.

"Join the club," Shiv said.  
"Does it bother you much?

Daevin just shrugged. "Why   
should I cry for not being an apple,   
when I was born an orange?" he said.  
"I'd be crying for an illusion. I may   
as well cry for not being a horse."

Shiv laughed. "You'd make  
a good horse, with those long legs."

Then Lieutenant Brown came over,  
which made Daevin get behind Shiv.

"You two seem to be getting along,"  
said Lieutenant Brown. "What's up?"

"I think that Daevin could make   
an asset in a restaurant," Shiv said.   
"We should ask Cook about it. If   
nothing else, I could take Daevin  
bargain-hunting at the markets."

"Or we could ask the Italians -- they're   
into wine," said Lieutenant Brown.

"Beer and pizza," Shiv said, riffing  
on the idea. "There's a place that  
does fancy pairings, like wine snobs.  
They say you can to that with  
any food and drink, though."

"You can," Daevin said. "I've  
done it with fruit juice and cookies."

"Now I want to try you on fudge,"  
Shiv said. "That'd be wild."

"Hmm," said Lieutenant Brown.  
"This is getting out of my range.  
Let me get Boss White up here."

"Finally!" said the woman.  
"I told you Daevin's the star  
of my home ec class."

Boss White came upstairs,  
looking downright curious.

Shiv coaxed Daevin   
into repeating the trick of  
identifying things by smell.

"Useful talent," said Boss White.  
"What'd you have in mind for it?"

Daevin went shy again and  
mumbled something to his shoes.

"Welp, you got options," said Boss White.  
"Metropolitan Community College has  
a whole handful of cooking programs --  
or we could try the Italians, if you like  
Lieutenant Brown's idea of wine."

"Dunno," said Daevin. "Never had it."

"Then we'll make sure that you  
get a chance to try different things  
before you decide," said Boss White.  
"Meanwhile, stick with Shiv -- he can  
take you out to the farmer's markets.  
That's bound to be handy even if  
you don't pick up extra training."

"Yes, boss," said Shiv. He  
sure as hell wouldn't mind  
having someone else  
to help carry things.

Boss White went off in  
a corner with the teacher  
and Lieutenant Brown.

Shiv didn't bother following;  
he didn't care about the details.

"How come you stuck up  
for me?" Daevin wondered.

"I suffered enough shit in   
foster care, why should   
anyone else have to?"  
Shiv said. "If I can crap  
on their day, then I will   
take that dump every time."

Daevin giggled. "I like  
your sense of humor."

"Most people think it  
stinks," Shiv said.

"No," Daevin said,  
tilting his head. "It's  
just sharp, like lemon."

"Acerbic," Shiv said,  
the word jumping into  
his mind from cooking  
with the Finns. "It means  
acid, yeah, like lemons."

"Oranges and lemons  
go together," Daevin said,  
giving him a shy glance.

"Yeah, we do," Shiv agreed.

**Author's Note:**

>  **[Daevin Molina](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/34/79/c8/3479c851f96765c96e9b9de747ba7980.jpg)** \-- He has light brown skin, brown eyes, and nappy black hair cut short. His heritage is African-American and Hispanic. He speaks English and Spanish. He is 17 years old in 2015. Daevin lives in Omaha, Nebraska. He is neurovariant, scent-dominant, which makes it difficult for him to fit in. He has a hard time parsing information tailored to visual or auditory learners. So most of his teachers think he's stupid, and want to push him into vocational training instead of letting him pursue college or a real job. Since Daevin grew up in foster care, he doesn't have anyone to fight for him, except for the Home Economics teacher who believes he can do much more than he's shown so far. She takes him to Blues Moon in hopes of finding better opportunities for him. He favors a [minimalist wardrobe of black, gray, and white](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/73/05/6a/73056a904d39e251a04dddcb1b200a30.jpg) because it is cheap and easy.  
>  **Qualities:** Good (+2) Home Economics, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Sense of Smell  
> Poor (-2) Fitting In
> 
> Of the [Nine Intelligences](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences), naturalistic intelligence is common among chefs.
> 
> The Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska offers a variety of [Culinary Arts](https://www.mccneb.edu/getattachment/Academics/Programs-of-Study/Culinary-Hospitality-and-Horticulture/Culinary-Arts-and-Management/2019-2020-Culinary-Hospitality-Overview.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US) programs.
> 
> A [sommelier](https://www.webstaurantstore.com/article/45/how-to-become-a-sommelier.html) handles wine selection and pairings. It's also possible to pair [beer and pizza](https://oct.co/essays/how-pair-beer-and-pizza), or [any other food and drink](https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/your-guide-to-effortless-food-and-drink-pairing/), for best results. They all require a keen sense of smell/taste.
> 
> * * *
> 
> “Why should I cry for not being an apple, when I was born an orange, I’d be crying for an illusion, I may as well cry for not being a horse.”   
> – [Donna Williams](https://the-art-of-autism.com/favorite-quotes-about-autism-and-aspergers/)
> 
> Learn to [identify and use your dominant sense](https://steemit.com/life/@chuazm/personal-growth-or-identifying-your-dominant-sense-and-benefiting-from-it). Vision and hearing are overwhelmingly favored in human cultures. [Touch-dominance](https://www.adrr.com/aa/excerpts.html) is somewhat known but disapproved. Scent and taste dominance aren't even acknowledged as options.
> 
> [Clabber bread](http://www.dixie-cookbook.com/clabber-bread/) is made from [sour milk](https://joepastry.com/2014/what-is-clabber-2/).


End file.
